


Playtime

by Daniscats, Joking611



Series: Cari'ssi'mi Drabbles [51]
Category: Mass Effect, Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/F, Humor, Liara Appreciation Week 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-08-09 07:57:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16445888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daniscats/pseuds/Daniscats, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joking611/pseuds/Joking611
Summary: Shepard runs away from her responsibilities to go play with her friends.





	Playtime

**Author's Note:**

> Started as a joint project for Liara Appreciation Week, but it grew too long to get it posted in time.

“Come on, Garrus! We won’t be out too late, I promise. It’s gonna be fun.” Shepard put on her most convincing smile, knowing the friend projected from her omni-tool wouldn’t be able to turn her down. She added a kicker as she jogged closer to her waiting skycar. “Besides, I don’t know if turians can get fat like humans can, but you looked a little thicker around the middle when I saw you. You could probably use the exercise.”  

“I’m not even going to respond to that,” Garrus replied sourly as Shepard slid into the driver’s seat and then waited expectantly. Finally he gave up, crossing his arms. “Fine. I’ll meet you there but I really do have to finish up early. I have a meeting with some of the matriarchs in the morning. How would it look if the turian Ambassador to Thessia was late? Just getting a time with the economic subcommittee on trade was hard enough. They’d never let me speak before the entire Conclave.”  

 _‘They never will anyway,’_ thought Shepard. She knew firsthand how stubborn and exclusive the matriarchs on the Conclave could be. No reason to let _him_ know that.  “You worry too much, Garrus, and you’re starting to sound like a politician. See you there!”  

Shepard disconnected the comm, then sighed, hanging her head for a moment as she closed her eyes. When she opened them, instead of sealing the skycar, she stuck her head out and yelled to a form in the shadows.  

“It’s okay, Denai. You can come out now. I know you’re going to follow me anyway, so we might as well share the car.”  

Without responding, Denai came out from behind a column, doing everything she could to pretend she hadn’t been shadowing the human the entire time. A headshake from Shepard confirmed that the Spectre still intended to drive, so with no small trepidation she entered the passenger side of the skycar. Shepard closed the doors and the vehicle leapt from the ground a moment later. It was then that Denai spoke.  

“I wanted to give you your...space,” Denai always found the Earth saying odd but Sarah used it often. “But I was concerned. There is nothing in your schedule for today that required you to leave the estate.”  

“Exactly! You are exactly right!”  

Denai cast a glance at Shepard, waiting for her to continue. When she didn’t, Denai spoke again.  

“So, might I ask where we are going, and why it isn’t on the schedule?” 

“We’ve been on Thessia for how long now? A little over a year? And every day, I have a schedule that we follow to the letter. I need to get away!”  

Denai looked confused. “It is a schedule that you help draft, and are free to alter at any time. It is important...” 

“Yes, yes, I know. It’s important that the House know where I am and what I’m doing so they can do their jobs and make sure everything goes smoothly. Sometimes I just need to disconnect. To go blow off some steam. To go cause a little mischief. You know what I mean?”  

“And you cannot add, whatever activity you wish to blow off steam on, to the schedule?”  

“No! That would ruin the whole thing! It’s all about spontaneity!” Shepard knew she’d never get Denai into the spirit of things, but that didn’t stop her from trying.  

“And does Liara know where you are going?”  

“I’ll tell her, I promise. As soon as we get back. We aren’t going to be gone all that long.” She paused. “You were less of a worrywart during the war, you know.” 

Denai cast another look at Shepard, saying nothing, yet clearly communicating her disbelief. 

“The risks you had to take during the war were necessary. You’ve earned a peaceful respite. The entire House has.” 

For a moment the Commander was visible through Sarah’s spirited demeanor. “You’re right, I have. We all have.” With a smile, her mischievous streak returned. “But sometimes I need a break from taking a break.”  

When Denai still didn’t look convinced, Sarah tapped the matron’s leg playfully. “Don’t worry, Denai, it’s going to be fine. This’ll be fun! You’ll see. Trust me.” 

 .o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o. 

“Thanks Shepard,” Garrus shouted down from his perch without pausing from lining up his next shot. “She was getting close to becoming a problem.”  

Sarah looked up from where she’d just blown one of their adversaries out of bounds with a biotic charge. “If you moved your bony butt once in a while, I wouldn’t have to spend half of each round keeping people from sneaking up on you.” She dove behind some handy rubble when one of their opponents took advantage of her tirade to pepper her shields with small arms fire. 

The chatter of an SMG was suddenly silenced by the bark of the turian’s Widow, followed by a stream of curses. Another human, if Shepard was to judge by the voice. Odd. She wouldn’t have expected there to be so many on the opposing team. Humans weren’t exactly common on Thessia. 

“Now we’re even Shepard. That’s how it always works for us.” 

Sarah just shook her head. “But I wouldn’t have _been_ in trouble if I didn’t always have to protect _you_ …” Her complaint was cut short by another rifle shot. 

“Sorry Shepard,” Garrus chuckled. “Can’t hear you over the sound of my awesome score.” 

“Fucking turian,” she muttered, not unkindly, as she charged towards the center of the arena. She was winning of course, but Garrus had a chance to pull ahead if he took out the next, she did a quick calculation, seven adversaries or so. There weren’t that many enemies left this round, so she was safe for the moment. Still, with Jack, Miranda, and James already out, Garrus had a chance to come fairly close to his former commander’s score before the next match if she didn’t pick up the pace. 

She should have pulled her shot back on the Citadel during the war. Who knew Garrus was so competitive? He’d taken it well at the time, but she’d had to watch her back every day since. 

The only other person who’d counted their kills so religiously around her was... She put the thought out of her mind. 

She took up position behind a partially destroyed wall that looked like it had been there for millennia, as opposed to the twenty minutes or so since the round started. A quick peek around the corner gave her a moment to assess most of their remaining enemies. She laid eyes on four. Two more humans, a batarian, (she cheered a little at that), and a drell. The opposing team had included a ridiculously armed hanar when they’d taken position, and she hadn’t seen him go down. That meant probably five. Call it six, just because she hated surprises. 

The batarian was closest, but she still had issues there, thank-you-very-much Dr. Iadri and her “how are you feeling today” sessions, so she left him for Garrus. She dreaded the day she ended up facing an all batarian team. The drell and one of the humans were together, so she decided they would be her next target.  

The pair was crouched behind a wall of stone blocks, nearly a meter and a half high. In a real battle she’d let Liara capture them in a singularity, then charge it, letting the biotic explosion do the work for her. 

That would be fun, and it was always a joy for her when Liara would really let loose.  

Unfortunately, from a scorekeeping perspective anyway, this wasn’t the real world. Artificial constraints were in place to prevent casualties, and to keep things “fair”. The arena didn’t care how powerful her biotics were, that she could have grabbed both of them with a pull and then charged them midair. She would receive a certain number of damage points for a pull or a charge, but not both. 

And she couldn’t use a _full power_ pull and charge, no matter how tempting it might be. For some reason it was considered unsporting to actually detonate your opponents in the arena. A pity, really. 

So instead she used a pull on the wall instead, to bring it down on the pair, chuckling as they realized their defensive position had turned against them. The drell was faster, leaping aside as he pulled the human behind him. 

They were good, but distracted. In the moments it had taken them to regroup, Shepard had closed the distance between them, the time allowing her to empty her pistol into them both, biotics not being an option. She was still in the arena’s mandatory cooldown period before she could inflict additional damage points with her biotics. 

Just as the pair realized what had happened to them, she heard Garrus’ Widow bark from behind and above. She risked a glance to verify her suspicion. The batarian. She rolled her eyes. Always the batarians. They’d ignore a thousand better opportunities for a chance to be the one who took down Shepard, even in the arena. Someday, one of them might actually do it. 

But not this match. 

Garrus had known it too, just as he’d known she’d probably leave the batarian to him. She’d practically given him those points.  

Ah well. At least he didn’t call her out on it. 

Their recent victims making their sullen ways to the exit, Shepard looked around for her next target. As far as she knew they were now two on two, and she was liking their odds.  

Given that they’d started five on twenty, she had reason to be optimistic. Jimmy had been taken out early. Not surprising, as the lieutenant commander had had a difficult time adjusting his fighting style to the artificial constraints of the arena. The man fought like the tank he was, which worked well with real ammo and actual blunt force trauma, but not so much when keeping score. 

She would have been angry with how early Jack and Miranda had been eliminated this round, if seeing a lucky opponent come up on them while they were arguing over tactics hadn’t been so goddess-damned hilarious. A single lift grenade, and both were out, each blaming the other as they argued all the way to the exit. 

It had left her without another biotic to combine powers with, however. She’d gotten used to using her biotics as one of a pair during the war. A well-tuned pair eliminated the problems caused by inopportune cooldowns. 

No matter. A quick scan of the area revealed the remaining human was no longer in view. Fine. She decided that she could risk a little exposure in tracking him down. Her “shield” was fully charged, and after this long without a hit she had barrier points to spare as well. She should be able to absorb almost any attack at least once without elimination. Even Garrus would need a second shot to take her out, not that she would give him the chance if he were ever foolish enough to pick the opposing side on one of her rare excursions to the arena.  

She was still the player to beat, even though this was the first time she’d made it to the arena since Armax re-opened their Armali facility. For being the person who saved the galaxy, she took an inordinate amount of pride in the fact that her wartime record still stood on the over-all, galaxy-wide scoreboard, although Aria remained a close second. It felt good to lose herself in the competition. She, like the rest of House T’Soni, had been focused on the rebuilding efforts, and Liara didn’t like leaving her Shadow Broker feeds unmonitored for too long. She needed a break. Especially now that it seemed… 

Never mind. Concentrate on the moment. 

She moved away from the scene of her momentary victory, eyes roaming in search of enemies, trying not to put herself too much out in the open. 

There, to her right. Inching around a column. 

The final human’s armor showed enough artificial damage that she knew the man had little point protection left. He seemed to be trying to circle the arena in another attempt to get behind Garrus. It wasn’t a bad strategy. That’s why he wasn’t the first to try it. Shepard was for all intents and purposes a “hard” target when she was on her own. With Garrus to provide covering fire, she was practically unstoppable. 

Not that Garrus ever let her forget it, she thought with a smirk. 

In any case, her opponents in the arena had learned the hard way what the Reapers realized during the war, and what the Collectors and the former Shadow Broker had come to know before them. If you want to take out Shepard, you better neutralize Vakarian and T’Soni first.  

A quick glance to Garrus’ position, and she received an acknowledging nod. Good. Garrus saw him too. The turian was fine then, and Liara wasn’t here. 

She put Liara out of her mind for the moment as well. You don’t win if you let yourself be distracted, and while this may only be a momentary bit of escapism, Shepard always played to win. 

It was obvious that the rounds of the impromptu tournament that the arena set up weren’t very evenly matched. Once Armax learned that Shepard was playing they’d practically announced it to the entirety of Armali. She’d only wanted to let off some steam, get her head on straight, but instead she’d ended up fighting all comers. 

Which was actually better, obviously. 

But it also meant she’d ended up going up against more than a few individuals that she outclassed by a frightening degree. Like the hapless enemy she was following as he tried to sneak up on Garrus. The man was so completely focused on his objective that he didn’t seem to realize she was only a pace behind him. 

It was almost sad. She pulled out her pistol and SMG, aiming both at the center of the man’s back. He obviously didn’t have enough defensive score remaining to be much of a threat, but you never knew when an enemy might get lucky. She didn’t want to end up being taken down because she made a stupid mistake. 

She braced herself, just in case her opponent jumped back in surprise, and fired both weapons at once. The man fell forward, even as the arena VI calmly announced another casualty. At least the man would be able to say that he’d been taken down by Shepard herself.  

Victim down, she turned to run, and gasped in surprise as her face was buried in pink softness. The clinging grip released her with a soft “pop” as she bounced off the hanar she’d just slammed into at nearly full speed. 

She looked up from where she fell, taking in the enemy looming over her. Dammit. Her gasp had drawn in no small amount of supple flesh, and now all she could taste was hanar. It was an experience that Aethyta had definitely never described in appropriate detail, and she would likely know having been bonded to one. It was all she could do not to gag. 

This hanar in particular had obviously seen too many Blasto movies. Six tentacles were pointed at her, each ending in a weapon. His choice to go entirely offensive must have worked for him, because here he was, still alive at the match’s end, even without shields.  

Shepard ran through her options. She still had both weapons out, but each needed a fresh heatsink. There was no way she could call up her biotics against him, not the way he had her covered. Maybe she could charge away? She’d done it before, but never while lying prone. She’d definitely take a hit or two, but if that was all, she could probably handle it. Hopefully the hanar wasn’t a good shot. 

“This one believes you are out of options, Commander,” began the hanar in the ethereal voice typical of his race. “This one has been looking forward to this for some time.” 

Great, a monologue. It seemed like no trope could get so old that you didn’t keep running into it.  She wondered what this guy’s problem was. She’d made no small number of enemies in her career, but the fact that the hanar was expressing his anger in the arena instead of with a professional hit made her decide it couldn’t be all that bad. Probably just lost a bet on one of her matches. She didn’t win _all_ the time. There was that one time before the War when she’d had the Tuchanka flu... 

She’d just opened her mouth to reply when she was interrupted as Garrus’ rifle barked one final time. 

The hanar’s weapons crackled as they were remotely deactivated, the arcing effect designed to communicate to friend and foe that a combatant was no longer in play. The arena VI announced the end of the match. 

“This one is not pleased!” Said the hanar in as close to a yell as she had ever heard from one. “This one should have been victorious!” He threw his weapons to the ground before gliding towards the exit, the arena VI chastising him to return the weapons to the locker room or pay a penalty.  

“Who needed saving this time, Shepard?” Garrus called out from the sniper’s perch even as he began climbing down from it. “Looks like you owe me one!” 

She wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. “You couldn’t have done that before I got a face full of hanar?” 

Laughter floated across the arena. “Sure I could have. You should have seen how it looked with you sneaking up on that other human, while the hanar was sneaking up on you.” Garrus’ boots slapped the ground as he jumped down the last few feet. “There’s no way I’m not buying the vid from this match.” 

Shepard groaned. Maybe she could ask Kasumi to “disappear” the data before it became available for sale. 

“I’ll remember that Vakarian. Especially the next time you’re first one out.” 

“Never happen. Especially not while young Jimmy Vega’s still with us.” 

Shepard laughed. “True. Poor guy’s trying to impress every maiden in Armali, and he ends up being the one who has to buy the first round, match after match.” 

“You going to help him with that?” 

“Buying rounds, Arena tactics, or impressing maidens?” 

“Never mind.” 

Shepard playfully knocked him with her shoulder as he walked past. 

 .o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o. 

Shepard still had a wide grin on her face as they exited the arena to the sound of loud cheering. She elbowed Garrus and nodded her head to the individual scoreboard above them. Shepard’s score was on top with Garrus still a good distance behind. Both their scores were far above Jack’s, who was listed third. 

“I should have pulled ahead of you with that last hit. It’s not my fault that that hanar just hid and waited for his opportunity to take you out. He didn’t have any points I could steal.”  

“No excuses, Vakarian. We have to take our enemies, and their points, as we find them. Come on, lets head to the bar until the next match. Jimmy owes us and I’m a bit parched. And I _really_ need to get the taste of hanar out of my mouth.”  

The bar was jammed with spectators crowding in trying to get a drink quickly to miss as little as possible of the various matches going on. One of the waitresses spotted them right away and escorted them to their private room where the rest of the team was already waiting.  

“How may I serve, Peeress? Ambassador?” The waitress waited with her hand over her omni-tool, ready to input their orders. “Anything you want. It’s on the house.”  

“Why?” Shepard looked skeptical. “We've been paying for our own drinks. Besides, my friend Jimmy owes us a couple.”  

“Your tab’s been discharged, Peeress. Management insists. Once word got out that you and some of the Normandy crew were competing tonight, we haven’t been able to keep up with the influx of competitors and spectators. We haven’t been this busy since before the war. None of the arenas have. We already had to make two extra runs to our suppliers. Tonight could put the Armali facility in the black for the entire year!” 

“In that case, I’ll take another pitcher of whatever Earth beer you have, and a small dextro one for my turian friend.” She nodded in Garrus’ direction, as if there were any confusion in who she meant in a party that included four humans. “Plus a selection of whatever appetizers you have, both levo and dextro.” She paused for a moment, noticing Miranda’s raised eyebrow. “And if it’s not too much trouble, we need more protein bars. Maybe ten with eezo, and ten without?”  

“Of course, Peeress. We know how to take care of our biotic competitors.” The waitress turned and left, the closing door not enough to block out the tumultuous din in the main bar. 

Vega was talking to Jack as they sat down.  

“So, let me get this straight. The Alliance, or rather Hackett, with Councilor Alenko himself standing there pretending to be useful, ordered you here, all expenses paid, just to check on Shepard? And you don’t have to do anything? No training, no meetings with asari military, nothing?”  

“That’s it!” Jack smiled and put her booted feet up on the table. “They’re still pissed at Shepard for leaving, and want someone to keep an eye on her. It’s not like they can ask the asari embassy to report her wellbeing and whereabouts to them. I’ve been staying at the most lux resort in Armali and I’ve got a pretty sweet expense account too.” 

“Not the entire reason, James,” added Shepard. “They know exactly where I am, and what I’m doing. Kaidan works with Tevos and I probably talk to Tevos twice a week. In fact, whenever she comes to Thessia, she stays at the estate.” She paused as the waitress returned with their drinks. “Although I think she does that more to annoy Aethyta than anything else. They’re hoping that if loyalty to the Alliance won’t get me to come back to Sol, that seeing my friends will.” She took a sip of her beer and made a face. 

When Shepard seemed disinclined to continue, Jack picked back up. “Why the surprise, Jimmy? The Alliance sent you here too.” 

James flashed her a dirty look.  

“Yeah, but I have to stay on base with the Armali defense forces. My per diem is a paltry 50 credits a day, and I actually have to teach classes while I’m here. The asari agreed to give the Alliance access to more eezo in exchange for us sending consultants on more traditional military tactics.” He took a drink to punctuate how unfair he found the disparity of their situations. “So I’m consulting. The brass also wants to keep me away from some of the unrest happening back on Earth and the colonies, so I here I am. No luxury digs, no expense account, and no action either. I’m bored out of my mind.” He shook his head sadly. “To make things worse, I think most of the commandos are just humoring me anyway. The asari idea of an FNG is a maiden with only forty years of combat experience. As far as they’re concerned, I don’t even rank that high.”   

“Sucks to be you, Marine,” teased the former convict.  

Miranda shook her head as she turned to Jack.  

“So you just flew off to Armali like you don’t have a care in the world? You’re just using all those Alliance resources while everyone on Earth and the colonies is struggling just to survive? No guilt whatsoever?”  

“Look Cheerleader,” started jack, buttons obviously pressed. “I’m doing them a favor because they took care of my kids. I agreed to teach at Grissom because I like the work and I like the kids. I could be making a fucking fortune working for private security. And that’s if I stayed legit!” She pointed at James. “Like he said, Hackett sent me, so why the fuck should I feel guilty? And how would my suffering make theirs any less? I did my part to send the reapers to hell and now I get to enjoy life a little bit. Thessia’s doing a hell of a lot better than Earth. At least here they’re fixing shit instead of fighting over what’s left. Hell, if they had just listened to Shepard that the reapers were coming back when she first told ‘em, maybe humanity wouldn’t be as fucked as it is right now.”  

“That’s not the point, and you know... 

“Ladies, please!” Shepard interjected. “Maybe if you saved some of this for the arena, you wouldn’t have been taken out so quickly last time.” 

Two sets of dirty looks for that one. 

“And everyone, break’s almost over. Make sure you eat something so we can get back out there.”  

“I don’t know, Shepard. I really do have an early morning...” 

“Oh, come on, Garrus! How often do we get the chance to get together and do this?  The night’s still young! I feel great!” ‘ _And I am definitely not ready to go home yet.'_ "How about it, guys? We don’t want to disappoint our fans, do we? Another match? Two?”  

As the group nodded or responded with degrees of enthusiasm ranging from “hell yeah” to a surly “fine”, Denai appeared at Shepard’s elbow and spoke quietly.  

“Sarah, you have been ignoring Liara’s attempts at contact for some time. Perhaps we should return to the estate and leave the arena for another evening.” 

“I’ve been a little busy. You can tell her that we won’t be much longer. Just another match or two.”  

“Peeress.” Denai spoke quietly but insistently, using the address that she knew Sarah hated. “I really think that we should leave. Or that you should at least talk to Liara. She was adamant that you speak to her.”  

“And I will. When I go home. Which will be soon. Jesus, Denai, this really isn’t like you. Just because we’re bonded doesn’t mean that we have to be joined at the hip. Feel free to reassure her that I’m safe, I’m not drinking too much, and that I’m mostly keeping out of trouble. Better yet, don’t tell her anything and just join us in the arena. We could use another fighter. One more and I think we could easily take on groups of 25 or more.” She looked around at the others. “What do you think? Any teams on the vids look challenging? Or fun?” 

Denai just gave her another look. Shepard smiled and chuckled.  

“Alright, alright. I know what you are going to say. One of your jobs is to protect me, and you can’t do that if you’re occupied in the arena. You can take the night off, even though you won’t. Don’t think that I didn’t spot the huntresses you placed in the crowd. I know I saw Teseka out there, and that means Eliata’s probably not far. They can do their jobs without you.” 

When Denai failed to reply, Shepard looked to the rest of her companions. “We're agreed? Break over? We go back out there and show them how it’s done?” 

Vega slammed his empty glass to the table. “Ready!” 

“I don’t think she meant you, Vega, but you can tag along anyway,” Garrus commented dryly. “Think you can make it five whole minutes this time?” 

“Ha, Ha, Vakarian. I bring it when it counts.” 

“Good to know. I’d love to see it sometime.” Garrus dropped a chit on the table as a tip before heading out. “In the meantime, you do make an excellent target.” 

“I’ll show you, Vakarian...” Vega jogged after the turian before Shepard could hear James’ retort.. 

Sarah shoved another energy bar in her mouth with a grimace before turning to Jack and Miranda. “Ladies?” 

“Is something wrong, Shepard?” One of the reasons Miranda resided at the estate was to keep an eye on Sarah's Cerberus implants. That, and the fact that there was no extradition treaty between the Republics and the Systems Alliance. 

Sarah took another sip of her beer. “I am never going to get the taste of hanar out of my mouth,” she complained as she made her way to the door.  

 .o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o. 

“It isn’t fair that we’re drinking for free, Shepard” complained Garrus, once their waitress left. “It means young Jimmy doesn’t lose anything when he gets taken out thirty seconds into every game.” 

“She used a Cain!” Argued Vega in his defense, referring to the huntress who’d scored the first elimination of the prior round. “You should be glad she used it on me, since only one is allowed per match. You should be thanking me!” The argumentative human took a drink of his beer and then put his glass down with an annoyed thunk. “And when the hell did everyone start calling me Jimmy?” 

“When your uncle thanked me for making sure you went to Rio... Jimmy,” finished Shepard with a flourish.  

“It is possible that you need to learn when to take cover, Commander, instead of displaying a willingness to simply absorb every hit,” pointed out Miranda from across the table. “You were the only one of us eliminated in the last two matches.” 

“Some of us don’t have a guardian angel,” Vega motioned his head at Jack with the comment. “If I had someone watching my back all the time, I’d be able to focus on fancy moves too.” 

“We’re all one team,” Shepard countered the comment. “We’re supposed to cover each other.” She tore into a bury strip, having tired of the energy bars she’d been using to keep her reserves up. “We never would have made it through the war if we didn’t work together...Jimmy,” she finished with a chuckle. 

“I’m just saying some of us work together a little more closely than others, that’s all,” came the petulant response. 

“Poor _Jimmy,_ ” Jack taunted the marine as she looked over her boots. “Maybe some backs are just more appealing to watch than others?” 

“It’s not her back you can’t keep your eyes off, Jack.” James looked around for support. “C’mon! Everyone sees it, right? It’s not just me?” 

Garrus reached across to pull the pitcher out of James’ reach. “I think you’ve had enough, _Jimmy_ ,” said the turian, adding insult to injury. “Never make the crazy biotic lady angry.” 

Miranda laughed at that, drowned out by Jack’s “Hey!” 

“Sorry,” conceded Garrus. “Either crazy biotic lady.” 

“Fuck off, Vakarian,” replied Jack coolly. 

“See?” James pointed at Jack. “She even defends Miranda if you insult her.” 

“Fuck off, Vega,” added Miranda. 

“Enough everyone.” Shepard didn’t quite call upon her command voice, but it was a near thing. It was only then that she noticed how loud her voice sounded. But it wasn’t a matter of her voice being too loud but rather, the cacophonous din of voices, laughter, screaming coming from the main bar had reduced to hushed murmurs. She glanced up at the monitors that hung on the wall in their private room, showing the current match in the arena.  

She watched as holographic numbers burst into the air, one after another. 50! 100! Bonus! 200! The arena on the monitor was at its darkest setting, but the hovering cameras still tried to follow the action as one opponent after another was eliminated. One close-up showed the horrified face of a human before he was enveloped in blue and thrown ten meters backwards through the air. He landed on top of a half-wall with a sickening crack. Even with shields and armor, that one had to hurt. Shepard half expected the match to pause to allow for medical personnel to attend to the man but the match continued, the man apparently not seriously injured.  

“Oh, come on. I haven’t had the chance to tell anyone to fuck off yet!” Garrus joked.  

“Shhhh”, chided Shepard, her eyes still glued to the screen until everyone’s attention followed hers there. She touched her omni-tool and raised the sound on one of the monitors. The two announcers' voices became audible.  

“And Shadow takes down another opponent!” 

“But where is this Shadow? I can’t even see him.”  

“Or her. Let’s hope that the team Merc Glory can see them and regroup or this match could be over quickly!”  

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like this. One opponent against 18 and I haven’t seen them even get a shot off yet.”  

“And they’re already down six players! Too bad they don’t have any points for Shadow to steal or this player could become a threat to Shepard on top of the tournament leader board.”  

“Shadow, if they survive, will probably be too tired to go much further alone but I sure would love to see that match!”  

“Shadow against Shepard and her Normandy team? That would be something to see!”  

The camera panned again, trying to capture the action as best it could in the low light. One of the cameras finally turned to infrared and the screen was filled with glaring light as one of the opponents rolled out of cover and began emptying his Typhoon towards the corner of the room. The man fired in vain as a blue arc flew towards him from another direction and knocked him through the air, dislodging the rifle from his hands.  

“There!” Jack pointed to a blur off to the side of the vid screen, that soon vanished from view once again.  

“That idiot was firing in the wrong direction”, Vega said.  

“They must have used biotics to move something as a distraction.” Miranda cut in. “Made him think that they were behind him.” The former Cerberus agent considered. “Not many have a cool-down period that short.”  

“I do,” Jack pointed out. 

“We know Jack,” murmured Shepard. Even though Sarah's life was full of powerful biotics, Jack stood out.  

“What about the mandatory cool-down period set by the Arena?” Asked James. 

“Only counts as far as scoring’s concerned. It’s meant to keep a strong biotic from just mopping the floor with another team, especially when they aren’t biotics themselves.” When James’ look belied his incomprehension, Sarah continued. “You can use all the biotics you want, but when you’re in enforced cooldown, you can’t use them on your opponents, or to score in any way.” 

“Can’t believe they kept that rule on Thessia,” complained Jack. “It puts asari at a disadvantage.” 

“Even so, it is impressive”, Miranda said admiringly. “They would have had to use three throws in less than a minute to knock off the two opponents and create the distraction.”  

“I could do it.” Jack said assuredly. “Still, pretty ballsy. That must have hurt their barrier strength. All offense and little defense. Risky, but bad-ass.”  

“All offense and no defense worked for that hanar,” Shepard pointed out as she ran her tongue over her teeth, still tasting that memory. 

“He didn’t do anything but hide,” Jack pointed out dismissively. “Shadow’s actually running the table. You’re just trying to talk up that hanar because he knocked you on your ass.” 

“She knocked herself on her ass,” reminded Garrus. “She just used that hanar to do it.” 

“ _Anyway_ ,” Shepard brought her team back to the moment. “Think they’ll make it to whatever ends up being the finals?” Shepard still didn’t fully understand the structure of the impromptu tournament in which they found themselves. “The arena’s starting to run out of teams in the elimination rounds. I bet they’re only two or three matches from taking us on. I was thinking Cobalt had the best chance, but now I’m starting to wonder.” 

“Why haven’t we seen anything of this fucker before now?” Jack asked. "We should have seen someone like this hours ago, considering how many teams they would have had to eliminate to be this close to the playoff rounds.” 

Miranda brought up her omni-tool and scrolled through the tournament statistics. She pursed her lips.  

“There was too much disparity between the skill levels of the teams, so the tiers aren’t exactly rigid, but it seems that Shadow is effectively already in a quarter-final match. Merc Glory made it to the final eight as did a team calling itself Avenging Angels. The Angels withdrew because of injury and this Shadow was selected to stand in for them.”  

“That’s not fair!” Vega opined. “They get to come in the quarter-finals, completely fresh. They haven’t had to fight their way in like we did.”  

“Well, like some of us did”, Garrus joked.  

“Shove it, Vakarian. In the real world, in the real war, I took out dozens of biotics without much trouble.” 

“Bold words,” commented Shepard, noticing the dirty look the waitress gave him. James never did give biotics the respect they deserved.  

She took a small sip of her beer, while acknowledging to herself that she might be biased. 

The room got quiet as the friends watched Shadow eliminate the rest of Merc Glory. It was like watching a predator coolly and calmly take down prey. When it was over, the lights came up and the camera focused on the last competitor standing. They were wearing arena-issue full-body armor, including a full helmet. Asarioid, Shepard noted before they left the playing area. Human or asari. The helmet wasn’t much to go on in Armali. A human woman could easily wear an asari helmet, even if the reverse wasn’t true. Shepard was unable to get a good look at this Shadow because of the helmet, but she was betting asari. Possibly a matriarch. There were powerful human biotics to be sure. Hell, she was one of them. But in Armali? Close enough to join a competition on no notice? If they were human they’d have to be Alliance, and if they were Alliance, she’d know them.  

She put down the beer she’d been nursing. She had a mission now. This could make her whole night. She looked around and saw the growing look of determination from the others.  

“We ready, people?” Shepard asked. “We can always quit now. I know that it’s getting late...”  

“Not a chance, Shep”, Jack spoke first. “Two more matches and we win this. I’ll show that fucker a short cool-down period!”  

“Don’t get your hopes up. We don’t even know Shadow will make it to the end.” She turned. “What about you, Garrus? You still worried about your early morning?”  

Garrus smirked as he stood. “The Matriarchs will wait. First, I have to make sure that my team wins this thing because, no offense, you won’t win it without me saving your ass. Second, someone has to rub young Jimmy’s nose in it when he’s first out again. Third, it is my destiny to have my name on top of that leader board.” 

“Fuck you, Vakarian,” shouted Vega as he jogged out the door. “This round’s mine.” 

 .o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o. 

“Told you,” said James proudly, his head only slightly bigger than his chest when he returned to their private room.  

“Told me what?” Asked Garrus from where he’d been sitting for the last twenty minutes. “That eventually a whole team would gang up on the biggest threat in the match?” The turian shrugged, at least as much as his physiology would allow. “It had to happen eventually. It’s practically a compliment.” If he was bothered, he gave no indication. 

“Bullshit,” said James, his grin growing wider. “If that’s your argument, then I’ve been the scariest person out there this whole time.” 

“Only because they didn’t know any better. Eventually someone had to look up and notice the scoreboard.” 

Shepard chuckled as the made a “more of the same” twirl over the table with her fingers, receiving an understanding nod from their waitress before she sat down. 

“Someone had to notice that their odds were better rushing a sniper rifle than a shotgun, you mean.” James stuck a thumb at his chest. “I could have held them off.” 

“You couldn’t have made it up to that perch before the round was over if you had biotics and a lift belt.” Garrus popped a handful of anslath nuts into his mouth. “They might have taken me down, but only half of them were left when they were done. The rest just fed my score.” 

“You were the only one eliminated,” pressed James. 

“And even with all my help, how many did you get? Three? That’s your high today, isn’t it Jimmy?” 

“All right girls, everyone’s pretty,” Shepard interjected before things got out of hand, just as Miranda and Jack entered the suite.  

“Aww, is somebody sad, Shepard?” Jack couldn’t help herself. “Are we interrupting your little therapy session?” 

“I’m just helping Garrus through a crisis of confidence,” answered Vega.  

“Wasn’t talking to you Jimmy,” dismissed Jack. 

“It wasn’t a bad strategy,” commented Miranda as slid into the seat between Shepard and Jack. “Several individuals have targeted Garrus over the course of the competition. By working together, Cobalt was actually able to take him down.” 

“Didn’t do them much fucking good,” Jack commented around a mouthful of what Shepard thought looked like chicken strips. Shepard rolled her eyes. Those must have cost a fortune, but if anyone would take “on the house” to its absolute limit, she knew it would be Jack.  

“Sure didn’t,” James flexed, smiling at the waitress as she returned. “Next time they’ll know better than to mess with James Vega.” 

“I’m not certain they know James Vega,” continued Miranda. “Their strategy wasn’t focused on winning the match.” She looked around, receiving knowing nods from all but Vega. “They wanted Garrus and Shepard, even if it meant losing.” 

“Makes sense,” agreed Sarah. “Lots of bragging rights to taking me down.” She finished off a beer, then looked at the glass sadly. “It’s been a while, but it’s happened before. Unless I stop coming to the arena, it’ll happen again.” She considered. “Not much chance of me stopping anytime soon, though. I’d love to go up against Aria sometime.” 

Jack motioned at Denai. “Don’t let your nanny hear that Shepard. She’ll tell the little missus.” 

“Liara already knows, Jack. Doesn’t mean she’s happy about it.” She looked up at the monitors. “Who’s left? Is that matriarch still playing? Wasshername?” 

“Shadow started a match a minute or two before you came in, Shepard.” Garrus pointed at one of the monitors. “There are only a few teams left fighting for any kind of placement.” He waved at the monitors. “It’s getting late. There's more people watching than fighting now.”  

Shepard winced as she glanced at her omni-tool. Yeah, Liara was gonna be pissed. Not that that hadn’t been a likely outcome anyway, no matter what she’d told herself. What did Chakwas always say? “In for a penny, in for a pound?” Might as well make the most of it. 

“I want that matriarch.” 

“No problem,” reassured Jack. “It’ll take more than a light show to take down this team, even with Jimmy working against us.” 

“I made it through the last match!” He protested. “Besides, we’ve been taking bigger and badder teams down all night.”   

“Might I point out, Lieutenant Commander,” began Miranda softly, “that Shadow has been taking out teams entirely with biotics.” 

“So?” 

“On Thessia, where one might assume that the majority of her opponents were not only biotics themselves, but likely combat veterans as well?” 

James allowed himself to be drawn into the losing side of an argument about biotics versus weapons with both Miranda and Jack, while Garrus looked on with amusement. 

Shepard was just beginning to enjoy the argument when Denai was at her elbow. 

“I have a bad feeling about this,” the matron was once again speaking quietly but adamantly. “One of the other teams would gladly take your place in the final.” 

“Would they? Most of them came to fight us, not to have us watch them fight.” She shook her head. “We’re the ones who made it through. Look around, Denai,” Sarah indicated both the vidscreens and the door to the main bar. “This has become bigger than ourselves. We're helping people forget their problems, even if just for a little while. This isn’t just being watched in Armali. By now half the galaxy is probably watching. Let people forget that there are so many still struggling to survive, just for an hour or two. Let them forget the war.”  

“Forgive me, Peeress, but as you have been known to say, ‘Bullshit’. You also know that, to be blunt, there are many people who would wish to see you dead.”  

Shepard chuckled. “Okay, it was mostly bullshit, and I know that it’s suspicious that this Shadow came out of nowhere and wiped the floor with everyone, but that doesn’t mean that they’re here for me specifically. This is one of the safest places in Citadel space! The alarms would go off if any real weapons entered the arena, and the fail-safes have the highest encryption.  This is probably the worst place on the worst planet to try to carry out a real hit. Well, unless the Conclave is out to get me...” 

Denai’s glare reminded Shepard that even that wasn’t outside the realm of possibility.  

“Peeress, it is as you say, but I have no information about this combatant. No scan, not even an identity. I am not even certain of their race.”  

“She’s asari.”  

“You cannot be sure.”  

“I have a pretty good idea. There just aren’t enough human biotics for me not to know them if they were on Thessia, and I doubt either a turian or a salarian managed to squeeze themselves into that armor.” 

“And if they’re batarian?” Denai baited her with the possibility, one of the few she could think of that might penetrate Sarah’s unwarranted certainty. 

Sarah lobbed it right back. 

“I know you and the other commandos will do your jobs and verify that all the safety protocols are in place and working. As for what happens in the arena, I think we can take care of ourselves. We’ll be fine. In fact, we’ll be more than fine. We’re going to win this thing.” 

Denai counted to three, refusing to let her frustration show. She didn’t want to argue with Sarah. She never did. But there was more to this evening than was obvious. She could sense it. Aethyta must have known something too, or she wouldn’t be out in the audience even now, back from Serrice a full two days ahead of schedule. 

It was possible that the matriarch had come for no other reason than to cheer her daughter’s bondmate on to victory. Then again, Denai also wouldn’t have been surprised if Aethtya had come to root against her. Some days, Denai would have bet in favor of Aethyta going so far as being here to compete against Shepard, not just tease her like she usually did. When she wanted to, Aethyta could get under Shepard’s skin faster than anyone else at the estate.  

But Aethyta might end up being disappointed this night, no matter which way her loyalties lie. Denai’s eyes went up to the vid screens again as they played images from Shadow’s last match. They were good, whoever they were. No matter who won, it would be a good match. She watched closely, as the commentator described Shadow’s technique as they took out a heavily armed opponent. 

She glanced back at Sarah, then again to the vid where Shadow was incapacitating a combatant who hadn’t even known they were under attack. A _very_ good match indeed, she decided with a smile. Perhaps there was something to the idea of approaching this event from the position of a spectator.  

Calm settled over the matron. “As you wish, Sarah.”   

Shepard nodded, the matter settled. 

“C’mon everyone,” she addressed the room. “One more to go and we wrap this up.” Shepard paused as she processed Denai’s words.  

“That’s it? You’re not going to fight with me on this any further? You’ve been trying to get me out of here since we arrived.”  

“No, Sarah. As you say, you can take care of yourself in the arena. Good luck.”  

“We make our own luck.” Shepard winked at Denai as she turned and left her  _princeps_ behind. 

“And must deal with the consequences,” said Denai to the closing door.  

.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o. 

Ug, this was taking forever. 

Fifteen minutes in, and Shadow’s motives were still an unknown.  

Was Shadow looking for the victory? Did they just want to take down her? Garrus? Both? 

There were advantages to outnumbering your opponent five to one, but Sarah knew there were drawbacks too. They had five times the firepower, but also presented five times as many targets.  

Shadow had torn through previous teams as if they were made of paper, but this time they’d been slow, cautious. Shepard wasn’t entirely sure she’d even laid eyes on them. 

No matter the outcome, Sarah was determined not to hand over an easy victory to whomever this “Shadow” might be. She’d organized her group into two fireteams. Jack with her, Miranda with James and Garrus providing sniper support. Shadow wouldn’t be able to pick off a lone opponent that way. No matter who they might target, they’d always be facing at least two of her team. 

Or they would be if they ever started moving, if Shadow ever came out of hiding. Given Shadow’s prior matches, she honestly thought they’d be done by now. Instead, Shadow seemed to be using guerrilla tactics instead of overwhelming force. 

The setting was tropical. An ancient jungle encroaching on ruins that looked Prothean. Sarah brushed her sweat-soaked hair from her eyes for what felt like the thousandth time.  

Sometimes she considered just shaving it off. She’d done it before. Hair and armor simply didn’t mix. She couldn’t suppress the smile at remembering Liara’s look of horror the first time she’d suggested doing so. Liara flatly forbade it, much to Sarah’s amusement. It was their first argument as a couple that revolved around something so mundane. Shepard had insisted that regular haircuts were normal for humans, and Liara ended up in tears. Sarah ended up having to explain the concept of split ends, as well as how she’d always worn her hair above the shoulder. Instead of admitting that taking a couple centimeters off wouldn’t be so bad, Liara had been beside herself with the knowledge that Sarah’s hair could grow even longer if properly cared for. 

So now her hair was fifteen centimeters longer than she’d ever worn it in her life, and Liara brushed it twice a day.  

In this humidity, it was just a pain in the ass. 

Shepard shook her head. She needed to focus. Because Shadow was in full armor with climate controls, the conditions of the match favored them. Not to mention, if they truly were an asari, the humidity wouldn’t bother them much to begin with. 

Next time she’d select a desert scenario instead of choosing “no preference”. 

As Shepard scanned the arena again looking for any sign of their opponent, Jack was moving forward, about to settle into cover behind a pile of rubble. It was about to be Shepard’s turn to move forward. 

Until she knew where Shadow was, it was difficult to use numbers to their advantage, but she didn’t want to provide a fixed target either. For now, they covered each other as best they could, leapfrogging as they patrolled inside the ruins, Garrus providing overwatch. 

She glanced to her right and saw James and Miranda behind cover. Miranda caught her eye and made the hand signal for an advance towards the right flank of the ruins. Shepard shook her head. Not yet. Too far. Instead she pointed to a recessed location near Jack.  

Given the change in tactics, Shadow was obviously looking for them to get impatient and make the first move. Their team had communications of course, but so long as Shadow’s location remained an unknown, they couldn’t use them. Radio silence was the order of the day. She looked to her right, and saw James where Miranda had left him, looking equally impatient. Again, she shook her head and gave the hand signal for hold.  

She didn’t have to look back to know that Garrus would be concealed somewhere, hiding in some elevated position. She didn’t try to look for him, finding him would just give away his position. Besides, whatever the first five or six most likely positions a sniper might have chosen, she knew that Garrus wouldn’t be in any of them. She tried to think of ways to use his concealment to her advantage. Perhaps if instead of using him defensively, she could lure Shadow somehow into his field of fire. That was one benefit of facing a single enemy. No matter who Shadow engaged first, they wouldn’t have the luxury of backup.  

She felt a little better. ‘ _You want us, Shadow? Come and get us.’_   

Another ten minutes passed with her team moving tentatively through the ruins before Shepard heard the unmistakable _“_ _v_ _shwwmm_ _”_ of a biotic field.  Shepard turned to look behind her, while remaining in cover. There was nothing to see. That was bad. Her head on a swivel, she carefully scanned her surroundings looking for...anything. She made eye contact with Miranda who was also watching their perimeter, and then to Vega on the other side of her position. He just shook his head and shrugged lightly, a grim look on his face.  

She would have to risk it. 

She clicked her comm twice, hoping to hear a corresponding open mic. 

Nothing. 

 _‘Fuck.’_  

Garrus first. Exactly what she would have done.  

“Garrus? Eyes on?” She opened comm, as she didn’t have much reason to hope at this point. 

Silence.  

As she drew breath to try again, she was interrupted by the arena VI.  

“Casualty, Team Normandy.” 

 _‘Fuck!’_  

A moment later, Shepard heard the door to the arena open and close, confirming what she already knew. Garrus hadn’t been able to respond because he’d been killed. Competitor’s mics were immediately disabled once they were down, lest they give vital information to their teammates before leaving the field of play.  

Dammit! How did they get by her team without any of them seeing anything? Shepard immediately vaulted over her cover to get behind it on the other side, as it was obvious that their opponent was now behind them somehow.  

She quickly ran through her options, the tactician in her evaluating the scenario. How would she take out her team, knowing what she knew? 

James would be a casualty, no question. He wasn’t fast enough to be able to hold out against a threat like Shadow, and he was too far away for her to protect. 

Miranda wouldn’t make it either. She had the capability, and Shepard trusted her at her side, but Shadow was taking this fight far more seriously than the raven-haired human. She’d be lured out of position, then eliminated.  

That’s how Shepard would do it anyway. 

Jack... Shepard grinned. If anyone could take down Shadow, other than Shepard herself, it would be Jack.  

She’d just decided there was hope yet when a blue blur dashed across her field of vision. The blur was wrapped in a biotic field that slammed violently into Jack’s barrier. Jack’s barrier easily deflected the force, but it did knock her off balance slightly. Probably doing the same amount of “damage” to Shadow. No points exchanged then. 

Miranda, an irritated look on her face, stepped out from her cover to allow Jack some time to scramble behind cover of her own, while simultaneously flicking a throw in the direction that their attacker should now be. The response was two throws tossed back at her. The first throw caused Miranda to jump awkwardly aside, as she was already in motion to get back behind cover. The second both hit her barrier and caught her at an upward angle, catapulting her back and to the left. Miranda swore as she heard the chime indicating both shield and barrier depletion.  

“Oh, come on,” she shouted up at the sky. “That little tap would never have been enough to incapacitate me!”  

Shepard looked up at the scoreboard. Miranda’s name was flashing red, indicating a “critically injured” player. Shadow had received no points for injuring Miranda, having used their biotics both kinetically and energetically. Shadow definitely wasn’t here to win by points then. They wanted to take out her and her team, period.  

Jack, enraged, blasted from behind cover to the far end of the ruins towards where the Shadow disappeared, smashing and tossing walls, rubble, trees and even some stairs with blue-encased fists as she advanced. When she reached the wall of the arena, she turned around, still not spying her quarry. Sarah moved forward cautiously to provide cover for her teammate as she led her back into the ruins.  

As Sarah and Jack converged on Miranda’s position, the arena VI helpfully announced “Casualty, Team Normandy.” 

“James, you asshole!” Jack screamed. “Can’t you stay alive for five fucking minutes?” 

“Knock it off, Jack,” chided Shepard. “Stay focused. They’re trying to pick us off, one by one.” 

“They’re fucking succeeding, is what they’re doing!” 

“Being overly emotional helps no one...” started Miranda, and Sarah reached down to help her up. 

“Shut up, Cheerleader, or I’ll take you out myself!” Interrupted Jack. 

“Don’t let them in your head, Jack. Stay calm. Watch for the enemy. We’ve got three of the strongest biotics in the galaxy. We work together, that’s how we win this.” Shepard watched her words settle over Jack like a shroud.  

“Commander,” began Miranda, “Jack has never been one to...” her criticism went unfinished as a powerful throw burst from the treeline, passing directly between Shepard and Jack. The ball of energy struck Miranda directly in the chest, blowing her several meters backward. 

“MOVE!” Shouted Shepard as she pushed Jack towards the jungle in the opposite direction. 

“Casualty, Team Normandy,” she heard from behind them over the sounds of their pounding feet. She glanced at the scoreboard. Still no points for Shadow, the throw that took out Miranda obviously too strong to be legal. 

“What the ever-loving fuck, Shepard,” asked Jack as they ran. “Who is this bitch?” 

“Bitch?” Sarah choked out over their full speed run. How did she ever let herself get this far out of shape? “You saw her?” 

“When she crashed into me, yeah. Didn’t stick around long enough for me to hit her back.” Jack sounded frustrated. 

“Asari then?” 

“Yeah, yeah, Shepard. You were right. Just like you always are.” 

“That’s not what I was...” 

“Whatever. How do we win this with just the two of us?” 

“Only need one.” 

“Good, I was afraid you’d given up.” 

“No, I just think that we...” she stopped, as they came into an open space at the corner of the arena. 

“Fuck, Shepard! Weren’t you paying attention?” 

“You were in front, you know.” She pointed to their left. “That way, back into the jungle.” 

They’d only jogged halfway across the clearing when their entry point into the jungle was blocked by Shadow. 

Jack immediately raised a barrier, fists ablaze. Shepard took a few paces to the side, giving their opponent two targets to worry about. 

In some ways, this was a best possible outcome. No more running, no more hiding. She couldn’t use biotics on them both, so Shadow had to choose. Attack Jack, and face Shepard while on a cooldown, or face Jack after having attacked Shepard. 

Sarah knew which she’d rather do, but Shadow had proven a worthy adversary. She wouldn’t be surprised by either choice. 

The armored asari took a step into the open, and was almost blasted by Jack for her trouble but Jack held back at the last second. Shepard gave the other human credit. That could have ruined the whole thing. If jack was on a cooldown, their odds would have taken a significant turn for the worse. 

The asari stood for a moment, and instead of attacking, undogged her helmet, sliding it up and over her crest before letting it drop unceremoniously to the ground. 

The pfzzt of jack’s dissipating barrier bounced off the trees. “Un-FUCKING-believable.” She turned to Shepard. “I should have known. Fuck this, Shepard, you’re on your own. I’m out.” She turned and started towards the exit, angry laughter echoing after her. 

“Resignation, Team Normandy,” announced the AI. 

Shadow started walking resolutely towards Shepard, while the human backpedaled. 

“Liara?” 

“Honey?” 

“Really, I can explain. I was coming home soon. I just needed a little time to process. Get rid of some stress so I could focus. You know?” 

The maiden kept advancing, never saying a word, a ball of dark energy building around her fist. 

“Sweetie?” Shepard said, panic now in her voice. It was the last word she was able to get out.  

“Victory condition, Team Shadow. End of match” 

“Thank you for choosing Armax, where everybody’s a winner!” 

.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o. 

“Of course I cut off the feeds, Shepard. I was angry, not vindictive.” Liara was sitting next to Sarah, but was waving off all of the human’s attempts at affection. “Your arena score is important to you. I would never take that away, or try to ruin your reputation.” 

“Good thing you didn’t have much of a reputation with this group anyway, Shep,” teased Jack. “How far did the missus throw you? Thirty meters? Forty?” 

“I don’t know,” answered Sarah grumpily as she rubbed a shoulder. “All I know is that it hurt like hell when I landed.” 

“I am sorry,” apologized Liara, who didn’t sound sorry at all. “But to leave you your points, I did have to eliminate you with an illegal move.” 

“Well thanks, I guess.” She looked around. “Does that mean ‘Shadow’ won? She had her points from before our match.” 

Garrus pointed up at the collection of vidscreens, currently replaying a series of highlights from the evening. Final scores were ticking across the bottom of one. “We won, Shepard. Yay for us.” 

“We did?” James rotated his left shoulder gingerly. “Sure doesn’t feel like we won. Feels like we got our asses kicked.” 

A smile flickered at the edges of Liara’s lips. 

“No, that definitely felt like a loss,” Miranda agreed, wincing slightly as she straightened out her leg.  

Garrus finished his drink with a flourish. “We lost the final, putting us in second. Liara won, but was disqualified by winning the match with an illegal move, bumping everyone else up one. Cobalt was third, for defeating Bad Habits, and Bad Habits was fourth, but we all took a level when “Shadow” was disqualified.” He toasted his refill to Liara. “Shadow, who fled in shame after having her score invalidated. Nicely done.” Liara nodded acknowledgement. 

“That seems... weird,” commented Shepard as she tried to follow the logic. 

“We kept our individual scores, so who cares?” Garrus reached for more nuts.  

“So,” boomed James, unable to wait for someone else to ask the obvious question. “Why are you so pissed at Shepard?” 

“Here it comes,” chuckled Aethyta from the far end of the table, where she’d been sitting between Garrus and Denai since joining them. 

“Hey look, I’m still on top of the individual score board!” Shepard pointed to the vidscreen again, desperate to change the subject.  

“Oh no,” Aethyta motioned at Liara with her glass. “You don’t get off that easy.” 

Liara hesitated for a moment. “Usually, there is celebrating when a couple becomes aware that they are going to have a child. Instead, Shepard...” 

“WHAT?” Jack slapped Shepard in the back of the head, eliciting an “ow” from the surprised Spectre. “You just found out you’re gonna have a kid, and you go out to play instead of staying home with your wife?” 

“She’s terrified”, Miranda smirked. “A two-kilometer reaper is one thing, but a three-kilogram asari is too much for her to face.”   

“I’m with you, Shepard.” Garrus shuddered slightly. “Spirits! You’re going to be a father!”  

“But what if she needed you?” Jack asked angrily, obviously taking Liara’s side.  

“She seemed to be doing all right tonight,” grumbled Shepard. 

“Of course, she wiped the floor with all of you. That was to be expected.” Aethyta laughed. “Why else do you think I came? I wouldn‘t have missed this for anything.”  

Shepard looked at the matriarch quizzically.  

“You really need to learn more about the species you married into, Kid,” Aethyta scolded. 

“AND?” 

“Liara’s the daughter of two matriarchs, right? She was trained by some of the best commandos in generations, got a boost to her biotics from what happened after the Battle of the Citadel, and now she’s pregnant. Pregnancy causes our bodies to stockpile eezo, which pushes an asari’s biotics off the charts. Since Liara was already most of the way there anyway....” She finished another drink. “Let’s just say I wouldn’t pull any more stupid-ass human moves for a while.” 

“Hey now, old woman...” 

“Sorry. It’s late, I’m old, and I need my beauty sleep. You kids celebrate.” She started towards the exit, stopping to put a hand on Shepard’s shoulder. “You might as well start drinking again.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Waiting it out isn’t going to help. You’ve got about a week to go before everything stops tasting like hanar.” 

“WHAT?” 

“You get used to it.” She teased. “You can even learn to like it.” She turned and exited the suite. 

At that, James stood on his chair, glass in hand. “I’d like to propose a toast...” 


End file.
